BAUSACK VARIANTS

3x Red Wins
above 12 years
tactical game for 2 players
A player wins a round when he has built the third red piece onto his own tower. The only auction type allowed is
the Best Offer basic auction from Knock Out. The winner of the auction decides to take the piece or offer it to his
opponent. The opponent must build the offered piece. Multiple foundations may be used, but each piece that is
added must add height to the overall structure. The foundation pieces must touch.
The winner is that player with the last standing tower or the first person to put 3 red blocks into his tower.
This game should be played over several rounds with the loser of the last round starting the new round.

No bidding – last tower

Play without the seeds and bidding/auctioning. Sit around the table, choose a piece and add it to your tower. Last
tower standing wins. Tallest tower if there are several lasts.

Pass on
Give everybody 10 beans.
On your turn do one of the following:

a) Pick your choice of pieces from those left and add it to your tower
or
b) Pick your choice of pieces from those left and pay one bean to give it to your right-hand neighbor to add to his
tower or two beans to give it to your left-hand neighbor to add to his tower.
or
c) Receive a piece from your right or left to add to your tower and add it to your tower
or
d) Receive a piece from your right or left to add to your tower and pass it on to the next player (can’t go back to
the player that gave it to you) for one more bean than was paid to pass it to you.

If your tower falls down, you lose. Last one standing wins.

Zero-sum bidding
My game group has played “Knock-Out” with a zero-sum bidding variant. This makes bidding active the whole
game if you like that. With this variant we start with 7 beans each instead of 10.

Bidding to take: The winner of the bid gives the beans to the players who didn’t win the bid and beans are
divided amongst the players. If all beans can’t be divided evenly then these are extra and are put to the side. On
the next bid the extra beans are combined with the bid and then that total is divided amongst the players who
didn’t win the bid. So if you have a 4 player game then at most 2 beans will be on the side since another bean
would allow each player that didn’t win the bid get a bean.
[This bidding is the same as in Traumfabrik/Dream Factory.]

Bidding to refuse: Starting with the player to the auctioneers left, each player either takes the piece and any
beans paid to it or pays a bean and play passes to his left. This continues until someone chooses to take the
piece or a player is without beans to pass and must take it.
[This bidding is the same as in Geschenkt/No Thanks.]

Players knocked out: If a player’s tower falls and he is eliminated from the game, then his pieces go back in to
the pile and his beans go into the bag. The eliminated player’s beans are not divided amongst the other players.

Reduced to two: When there are only two players left in the game then all beans are placed back in the bag.
Players can either pick a piece to put on their own tower or pick a piece that their opponent has to add to his
tower. Play alternates until someone’s tower falls.
Tallest tower variant
The way we play is that you work on separate towers, and you have to put as many pieces on at a time until your
tower is bigger than the last person’s.

Even better is to play in teams (of 2 or more). The way the teams talk to each other to plan out the tower is fun to
watch.

The big and solid pieces tend to go first, then towards the end it gets interesting as only the tricky pieces are left.

I like this variant because you get really big towers going, as opposed to others where the goal is more or less to
get the game over in a few turns.

Canadian Variant
Everyone takes one of the non-red pieces.

In turn order each player places it so it is touching at least one other piece and the ground/table. This forms the
base of the tower.

Continuing after the last base piece is placed, the player (AKA Righty) selects one of the remaining pieces and
hands it to the person on his left.

The player on the left (AKA Lefty) has two choices:

1) Say the player who selected the piece is bluffing:
--Righty then attempts to place it on the tower.
----If the tower stays up, the Righty gets a bean.
----If the tower falls, Lefty gets a bean.

2) Place the piece

-- If it stays up Lefty selects a piece and continues as Righty
-- If it falls, Righty gets a bean.

First person to get 3 beans wins.

Choosing two times A

Players sit around a table with all the pieces displayed openly in the center. Each player places a rectangular
base in front of him (as provided in Bandu). Randomly choose a start player.

The start player chooses a number of pieces from the center equal to the number of players. The player to his
left then chooses one piece from among those chosen and places it on his tower. Players continue clockwise
around the table in this fashion, choosing one of the chosen pieces and placing it on their tower. Thus the start
player will choose the last remaining piece and place it on his tower. After that, the start player shifts to the right.
The new start player then chooses pieces and play continues clockwise as in the first round. In this way, the
player who got the last piece in the previous round will choose the first piece in the current round.

If a player’s tower falls, he is out of the game and his pieces go back into the center of the table. Remaining
players continue playing. Last tower standing wins.

Choosing two times B

Players sit around a table with all the pieces displayed openly in the center. Each player places a rectangular
base in front of him (as provided in Bandu). Randomly choose a start player.

The start player chooses a number of pieces from the center equal to the number of players plus one, and
chooses a piece among those chosen and places it on his tower. The player to his left then also chooses one
piece from among those chosen and places it on his tower. Players continue clockwise around the table in this
fashion, choosing one of the chosen pieces and placing it on their tower. Thus the start player will choose the last
remaining piece and place it on his tower. So the start player is the first and the last to build. After that, the
start player shifts to the right. The new start player then chooses pieces and play continues clockwise as in the
first round.

If a player’s tower falls, he is out of the game and his pieces go back into the center of the table. Remaining
players continue playing. Last tower standing wins.
 VARIANTS FOR COUPLES
In these variants couples compete with each other.
These variants may solve either or both of the following two kinds of situations:
a) More than 6 players to play.
b) Your companion tends to complain about your nasty play style if he loses.

Alternating actions, joint tower

All teams build their own joint tower and there is team victory.
Actions (auction; building) are alternating between the team members.
All the original game variations (Knock Out, Pile It High, Building Chain, Tower of Babel) can be played with this
very simple version. On a player’s turn, the team members do their action alternately.

Exemption
With this variant the game can be played in the usual single player form, so each player builds his own tower,
and victory is personal. However it ensures that you don’t incur the anger of your mate.
It can be applied to Knock Out and Pile It High because these game variations apply aggressive auctions and
they can generate nasty game style by heavy use of Refusal and Give Away (Risk) auctions.
Your partner is skipped in auctions started by you. In a Refusal or Give Away (Risk) style auction he isn’t
exposed to any risk, so he doesn’t have to either raise the bid or build with the piece; in a Highest Bidder (Best
Offer) style auction he doesn’t have the right to bid for your item.

Scoring of team members

Each player builds his own tower, and all the original rules are valid. However at the end of the game there is
team victory based on the total score of each team.
Ousted players get the following scores in the order of falling out. Builder of the last standing tower also gets his
points following in the line:
10 – 21 – 32 – 44 – 56 – 68.
The reason for these very points is to ensure that there will be no ties, and to appreciate the greater achievement
of the players falling out towards the end of the game. E.g. falling out 1 st and 6th ensures victory over falling out 2nd
and 5th and this also means that it is worthwhile for the partner of the player who falls out first to put effort in
continuing.
This variant can be applied to Knock Out and Pile It High, because those two are in which you and your partner
can help each other and take actions together against your opponent teams.